Linger
by CourageousHeart
Summary: A tale of the love between Matt Ishida and Mimi Tachikawa. The lovers return to the digital world for a moment of bliss, but can they survive being apart afterwards?
1. A Plan is Made

Author's Note: Alright, I haven't written a digimon fanfic in quite sometime. In fact, I haven't posted on in quite some time. I write Seasons 01 and 02 fics only. Just so we get that out of the way. J -J

The warm nightly summer breeze flowed through the window, rustling the long pink drapery with frayed bottoms. Pink hair blew in wisps over a delicate and beautiful face as it turned to glance at a fuzzy white kitten sleeping with a soft purr on the large pink bed. The room was silent with the exception of the obnoxious purring and the sounds of crickets chirping repeatedly outside and the occasional clatter of pressed computer keys under fast-paced fingertips.

The prom-queen beauty licked her glossy lips as if concentrating on the very small motor-skilled task of typing. Clicks and clatters and mashes sounded to her ears as she made her plans to meet her friend of many years in a world they hadn't embarked upon in since they were younger.

They were all so much older now, living on their own, going to college, getting jobs, moving on from their childish games of saving the world to becoming the adults who never believed them when they said things were wrong.

Mimi Tachikawa, however, longed to go back to the times of her childhood. She missed those long nights stranded in the digital world, staying up late with Matt Ishida in order to talk privately with one another. Everyone else brushed her off as a whiney airhead, but he saw something in her that not even her parents saw. He saw an intelligent, but scared girl.

The clock turned to 4:00am, and she looked upon the glowing screen which blinked an attention grabbing orange color as she received another message from her long time friend. The time difference between them killed her, as they scarcely were able to talk at all because of school and work schedules. Opening the small message window, she replied with an 'Okay' and then slowly stood up. Waltzing over to her large walk-in closet, she rummaged through thousands of articles of clothing, trying to decide on the perfect thing to wear for their meeting.

Finally, she chose an outfit. Removing the loose fitting pajamas which she was previously adorned in, she quickly replaced them with a pair of dark blue jeans and a little too big pink tank top over a white one. Her feet were adorned with pink sneakers and a pink bow decorated her matching hair.

Pulling out a small device which fit in the palm of her hand, she gazed at it sadly as it emitted a slight beep in reaction to the computer before her. With a deep breath, she held it out in front of the screen and let the blast of glowing light enshroud her and take her away.


	2. A Night to Remember

As the glow faded, Mimi felt herself hit the rough ground beneath her. She groaned slightly, forcing herself to stand up and look for Matt. Turning her head side to side as she rubbed the back of her head, she bit her lower lip, unable to locate him.

"Matt Ishida!" She called out, only to have her high-pitched girly voice echo back to her. She frowned, wondering where he was. She certainly didn't want to be stuck here all by herself. Not without Palmon or Matt to help her find her way back to the comfort of her little apartment.

Then she heard it, the sweet melodic sound of a sad harmonica filled with so much emotion. A smile played itself across her lips and she began heading towards the noise in a rather quick fashion. The forests of the digital world seemed to have gotten thicker as Mimi found herself pushing aside mass amounts of foliage in order to get to her destination. She wondered how Matt had gotten there so quickly, it seemed he hadn't gone through this way at all.

As she emerged, she saw the familiar silhouette of a certain spiky golden haired boy from her childhood. He was older now, much like her, his spikes now toned down, his body much more muscular, and he had long since retired the large gloves he used to wear all the time.

"Matt?" She said softly, but loud enough for him to hear over the sound of his harmonica.

Jerking slightly in frightened way, he removed the harmonica from his lips and then turned to look at the angel behind him. A rare smile formed on his face and he immediately jumped up and ran to her, wrapping her in a tight hug.

"Mimi!" He exclaimed, spinning her around happily. She laughed and grinned widely at him.

"Who else would you be expecting?" She asked, raising one of her finely arched eyebrows in curiosity.

He smirked devilishly, "Oh, I don't know, this gorgeous girl..."

Before he could finish, Mimi's fist connected with his arm.

"Oww," He laughed, reaching up to run his arm, "That kind of hurt."

Mimi smiled, "Serves you right. Making fun of me."

"Oh, I wasn't making fun of you, simply stating who I could be waiting for. Seems she decided to show up."

Mimi blushed and covered her cheeks with her hands, "You shouldn't say those kinds of things Matt."

"Why not?"

"I don't know…" She said shyly.

He chuckled and took her hand in his, "You should be used to it by now, I say that stuff all the time to you online, at least, whenever I get to actually talk to you."

"You have to love the massive time difference between America and Japan."

"Well I don't really have to, so I think I won't." He smirked and she simply smiled.

The two began to walk around the digital world, their fingers intertwined with one another. They talked of their lives, catching up with one another. They goofed around, as two people in love usually do, Mimi running and hiding, Matt finding her and pulling her close to him. Their time, however, was coming to a close and they found themselves sitting by a calm shimmering lake.

Mimi's eyes remained downcast as she stared at the water. Matt was playing her a soft song on his harmonica, watching her every breath. Neither of them wanted this moment to end. Neither of them had the courage to admit their feelings for one another. They both had to separate once again, go live their different lives half a world apart.

Matt frowned as he looked at how sad Mimi was. He put his harmonica back into his pocket and moved closer to her, wrapping his arms around her, "Mims…I don't really…want to leave."

She looked up at him, her eyes shimmering with the glossy wall of tears in her eyes, "We don't have a choice, we can't live here forever, you know that."

"I know…" He frowned and looked into her eyes, "but I don't want to be without you anymore. I miss being with you all the time. I miss your smile and your laugh."

Mimi sat there, a bit shocked by his words.

"I love you Mimi…." He spoke with a slight tremble in his voice, and his hold on her became a bit tighter, as if he was afraid she would run away.

"Matt I…" She paused and searched his eyes, feeling herself being pulled into those deep blue orbs which held endless oceans, "love you too."

Their digital devices began to beep, signaling that it was time for them to be sent back. Before the glow devoured them and separated them, Matt leaned close and pressed his lips gently against Mimi's. By the time their eyes reopened, they were back in their own homes, alone.


End file.
